1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a communication information bandwidth control apparatus and method for controlling the bandwidth of information transmitted and received via a communication line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a videoconference system has been known as a communication tool for conducting a conference with the associated party at a remote location. The videoconference system comprises a plurality of terminals connected to each other via a communication line, and voice information containing user's voice, monitor video information containing a user's monitor image, and the like are transmitted and received between the terminals. A data conference system is known as a similar communication tool. The data conference system also comprises a plurality of terminals connected to each other via a communication line, and display information containing displayed conference material, drawing (pen input) information containing drawing (pen input) of the user, and the like are transmitted and received between the terminals.
In recent years, a network conference system in such a mode comprising a videoconference system and a data conference system in combination has been proposed. In the network conference system, not only voice information containing user's voice, monitor video information containing a user's monitor image, etc., but also display information containing displayed conference material, drawing (pen input) information containing drawing (pen input) of the user, and the like are transmitted and received between terminals.
By the way, to transmit and receive the information between the terminals in the network conference system, it is possible to assign the bandwidth of the communication line used to each type of information. However, for example, if an attempt is made to transmit and receive the display information having a large information amount (requiring a wide bandwidth) in addition to the voice information and the monitor video information, the voice information is not sufficiently transmitted or received and it is feared that the user's voice may be interrupted.